


When Iris Fades

by marquis_de_lafabae



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Abuse, AmeRus is a background relationship in this one sorry, Angst, Anxiety, France is traumatized and England tries to help him, Historical Hetalia, It's my otp as well but FrUK has prority, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, World War II, maybe one day I'll write something about them too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 09:49:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10637382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marquis_de_lafabae/pseuds/marquis_de_lafabae
Summary: After England saves France from the Nazi occupation France's completely broken, physically and mentally.~the idea goes to my friend Nat!





	1. Prologue

***

1940, London

England still hasn’t received any word from France. He heard about German operations in the region and out of worry sent a letter to the other country three days before. Sure, sometimes he didn’t respond for two or three weeks, even a month, but this was different. Arthur felt helpless as no one knew what was happening on the other side of Canal La Manche. Even though their relationship has always been complicated, endless wars, competition between the two of them, he found himself worried for the man. He has always despised him, but in the last years something changed and he stopped viewing France as an arrogant pervert, but as a …friend. Now the war was tearing all the countries apart and there was no time for such thoughts. He knew that distracting himself from the war would doom his nation and maybe even more, as his land was somewhat of last line of defence for the continent. Invading England was really hard due to the fact that he was an island country and his navy was considered to be the best in Europe, so trying to starve him to death was an idiotic idea. After all, Napoleon and France tried that once in 19th century and failed miserably. The geographic position made him one of the lucky countries, but now it was full of immigrants from all around the world, like Jews, Poles, Hungarians and even some Germans that were against the Nazi regime. People from all the places occupied by the Nazis came to him. At first some of them tried other Western countries, but at some point they realised that Britain was probably the only reasonable choice aside from United States of America. So many countries have lost against that fucking Nazi Germany. Poland, Hungary, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands were now occupied by the Germany and the Holocaust was bringing death to all Jews from around the world. He knew the young nation Israel felt every death, every burn, every bullet, heard every scream of every Jew suffering in the concentration camp. It hurt him to see the girl suffer so much. He wished he could do something about all this, but inside he was aware that it was impossible. Polish government also escaped to his place, but Poland himself stayed in his land fighting with the oppressors in all the ways he could, sabotage, conspiracy, small acts of vandalism that light up the hearts of his people and reminded them that Poland is not dead yet. Many other occupied countries did the same.  


Now he was worried that he would never see France’s face again, his beautiful golden locks, icy blue eyes or even that stupid smile of his when he’s joking about something. Oh, his beautiful silvery voice… Fucking frog…  
He heard someone enter his office. A young soldier stood in the door frame, breathing heavily. He’s clearly been running, but why?  


“Sir! I have information about France!”  


Those words made his heart flutter. He stood up, nearly turning over the chair.  


“Then talk.“ He tried to mask his shaky but hopeful voice.  


The other man took out a piece of paper from his pocket, then turned to England.  


“Sir, France is under the Nazi occupation.”  


At that moment he felt his heart drop and looked back at the young man with wide eyes.  


“How long?” that’s all he managed to say.  


“The German troops passed the Maginot Line yesterday, sir.” The soldier replied.  


England felt helpless. France was under German occupation. His France was under German occupation. He had to do something about it. He couldn't just leave France to that fucking Germany.  


“T-Thank you for this information.” His voice was getting more shaky.  


“Sir, what are we going to do about it?”  


“What kind of a question is that? Of course we are going to help them.” What else could he say? The answer was obvious but he knew the Germans were well organised and defeating them would be hard, maybe even impossible.  


“Send word to our troops, we are taking France back”  


The soldier saluted and left the room. The moment he heard the door close the mighty United Kingdom collapsed to his knees, softly sobbing.

*

1940, Paris

“Ça a commence.” The president entered the room that instantly went silent. Everyone knew what was coming.  


France was standing by the window observing the people of Paris. In a few minutes the radio would burst with the tragic news.  


“Ligne Maginot a échoué.”  


François Bonnefoi turned to look at his President with a determined face.  


“Préparez-vous à la bataille, puis.” He said in a low voice looking straight in the eye of his boss who gave him a small nod and commanded his people to get out of the room.  


France once again turned to the window and saw mothers running after their children to take them home, neighbours helping each other with faces full of terror, shop owners closing their work places and running home. In a few minutes the streets were grave silent. Everyone was inside trying to protect their families, some even hid in the basements.  


“You better come and save me, you bastard.” He said half to himself, half to England shedding a tear and instantly wiping it. There was no time for tears. He had to prepare for what was about to come. François wasn’t stupid, he knew the German troops were far more disciplined and more organised than his, England’s or other Allies’.  


France was on the lost position

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the translations!  
> Fr. Ça a commence.- it has begun.  
> Ligne Maginot a échoué.- the Maginot Line has failed.  
> Préparez-vous à la bataille, puis.- prepare for the battle, then.  
> I don't know much about French so I translated the french words in Google Translate, if you spot any errors please tell me.  
> Also, I'm not a native English speaker so please notify me if I made any mistakes.  
> I'm gonna update this every few days or at least I'll try. Oh, this is gonna be so angsty, just you wait, just you wait.


	2. Liberation of France

May, 1940

England wasn’t the one to throw his words to the wind. He promised to help France so he had to fulfill his promise. As soon as he could, he gathered his air forces and ships, Belgium did the same. Everything would be fine, if not for the fact that Germany was well organised and he pushed the Belgian and English forces back to sea. 

The situation was hopeless. England had no way to help his ally. 

*

June 1940, Paris

France didn’t know what to do. The German forces entered his land and broke through the Maginot Line, which was the only defence line they actually relied on. His army was in chaos, there was no way he could defend himself from the enemy.

He ran to the exit of the Élysée Palace. What he saw was unbelievable. His government was exiting the building in panic… with their suitcases.

“Que faites-vous?!” He demanded explanation for this behaviour. 

“Nous allons en Angleterre!” The prime minister answered in a panicked voice. France couldn’t quite believe what he just heard. His government was running away, saving their lives, when there were millions of French people in need of protection.

“Quelle?! Vous ne pouvez pas le faire! Il y a des milliers de personnes qui ont besoin d'aide!” He was enraged, not only was the government leaving his people behind but also himself. 

“Regardez…Si nous mourrons, ce sera une question de temps avant de mourir aussi!” France wished he could say this was a lie but he knew the prime minister was right. If they died, there would be so much chaos and eventually he’d die too. Besides, he needed someone to represent him and his people.

François smiled sadly, gave them a small approving nod and watched as they left the building. 

Inside, he knew that there was no way his army would succeed in defending him without instructions from his government. He was on the lost position.

***

On 14 July, 1940 after a chaotic flight of French government which led to the collapse of French army, the German forces occupied Paris unopposed. Soon the German commanders forced the new French government to accept an armistice that amounted to surrender. On 22 July Germany divided France between himself and Italy. The French Third Republic ended.

***

July, 1944

After unsuccessful attempts in liberating France in 1944 the Allied Forces decided it was about time to get rid of Nazi occupation in the region. England couldn’t be more glad to help, even if it meant cooperating with his younger brother, America. The annoying country couldn’t stop him from saving France. He felt as if he only lived for the moment he could see the beautiful face of his France and hear his soft voice. Of course, Alfred had to tease him for his thoughts so he tried to hide under the mask of sarcasm, as usual. To be honest, no one ever witnessed the real England. He always seemed so cold, distant and full of salt so no one ever bothered to try to discover his true nature. No one except for France who always tried to dig a little deeper under the cold surface of England’s character but never really succeeded. It didn’t matter now anyway. The only thing that was important now, was saving his France from the Nazi regime and bringing justice to the world. The war began 5 years ago and Germany along with Prussia and Austria started to make mistakes. Their plans seemed clumsy and sometimes even unfinished. Some countries even claimed that Prussia and Austria wanted the war to end but Germany never agreed to that. Germany was slowly losing and it was clearly visible. When the Nazi age was coming to an end, another country was growing in power. The Soviet Union or Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics, also known as Russia, grew more powerful with every small defeat Germany faced. Russia was a dictatorship country, which only made other countries concerned about the future of Europe and the world. Along with Russia’s, the importance of America was also growing. The young country showed his military abilities more than once. England was sure that if they survive the war and defeat the Axis, Europe and maybe even the whole world will probably be divided between his younger brother and USSR.

Now his head was focused on only one thought: France. First step in liberating him was The Invasion of Normandy on 6th of July 1944. It began with massive air attacks and bombings. America and other Allies gave the best of their abilities to retrieve the beach from the hands of Nazis. Arthur felt confident in their forces. After all their equipment was brand new, adapted for war and German strategy. On the second day the island country spotted someone. It was him. The bastard who took France. By his side walked Prussia. The two brothers didn’t seem to get along lately, that could give the Allies more chances at succeeding. He saw Germany look at him, hate visible in his eyes. England didn’t know why none of the brothers shot him. For a moment he was exposed and none of them took the chance to shoot. _Maybe Gilbert stopped him?_ He shouldn’t worry about such things. The only thing that mattered was that Gilbert and Ludwig were his enemies now. If he let himself wonder about their motives, he would have lost a long time ago. And yet he wondered why Germany became like this. He used to be different. Of course, he has always been a military country with imperialist ambitions, but this was a way more different. Maybe it was his leader that changed him or the First World War. He knew that losing it hit the Germans bad. The devaluation of their money, hunger, moral loss. The Germans wanted a strong leader that would take revenge on other countries for their loss in the First World War. Again, he had to remind himself it didn’t matter, now he was his enemy and he had to focus on stopping him from invading the whole world and bringing more death and destruction. 

After the air attacks, the Allies fought for Normandy with their navy. The fleet came from eight different navies which made England even more confident in winning the battle. The fights lasted more than a month and it wasn’t until the middle of July until he spotted Germany with his brother for the second time, when his forces began to retreat. _The bastard_ looked him in the eyes before turning to his soldiers, leaving an envelope on the beach.

In a few hours it was all empty. If it wasn’t for the cheery voice of America talking to Russia, he would’ve thought they were on the graveyard. The Allied Forces won but it was only the first step to saving France. The United Kingdom stepped on the soft sand,which was now covered in blood of fallen soldiers from both sides. With every war it only gets bloodier…He thought while looking at one of the dead soldiers with a German uniform. He was young, probably had a family out there somewhere, a mother waiting for her son to return home. Now that mother would only get a letter about her son’s death, maybe not even that. 

“In the end we are all dust.” He heard someone say behind him in a soft voice. 

“ That’s kind of pessimistic.” He turned around to see a soft smile on the lips of Canada. 

“Well… I think it’s more realistic than pessimistic. After all you are the local pessimist, I wouldn’t dare to steal your job” He laughed softly.

England felt something under the sand. He looked down and saw an envelope. The same envelope Germany left, when looking him right in the eyes. He quickly picked it up and showed it to Canada.

“It’s from Germany.” He stated and Mathieu looked at him curiously.

“Then open it.” And he did. Inside was a small letter 

“It says, France…” He stopped reading. Anger was visible on his face and it didn’t pass by the other country’s attention.

“What is it? What did he write? England?” 

“It says, _France’s lost. You will never save him. I made sure of it. Don’t get your hopes up._ ” He crumpled the paper and felt tears gathering in his eyes. _What did that bastard do to him?_

“We will save him. Don’t worry.” Canada put his hand on England’s arm.

“What if…What if he did something to him? What if France’s already dead? What if he’s dying now? That fucking idiot…” He was starting to panic, but Mathieu put another hand on his arm and looked him in the eyes, with a soft smile on his lips.

“We both would feel if he died. Have you felt anything like that lately?”

“No.” He replied with a shaky voice.

“Then France’s okay.” Canada smiled at him. “Do you need a hug?” He asked jokingly.

“No!” The reply was almost instant and it as met with a laugh from the other country. It made him feel a bit better. Canada has always been a good friend.

*

At some point the Free French army joined in. Together they started their next step which was pushing forward towards Paris. In the ending stages the French liberation army was covering Alsace-Lorraine, the centre and south was covered by America and the north was made up of English forces.

On 15 August the Allied Forces were waiting near Paris for a good moment to strike. On 25 August, 1944 the military governor of the city surrendered. Paris was free.

*

The Élysée Palace seemed empty as England, Canada, Russia and America stood before the entrance. 

“If Germany is no longer in charge of Paris, then where’s France? Why didn’t he come to us himself?” America was right. Something definitely was off. 

“Are we going to stand here and watch or get inside and look for France?” Russia seemed to be getting impatient and entered the building with an annoyed huff, America ran after him.

“I think there’s something between them.” Canada winked at England and laughed as he followed the rest, England after him. 

The Palace was dark, all the lights were off. In some places England spotted cigarette butts, which meant it was left in hurry.

“France!” America tried to call him but the only thing they heard was their own breath. _What if Germany really did something to him?_ He felt Canada put his hand on his arm. It seemed like Mathieu could read his thoughts. _Creepy._

“Maybe we should split up?” England suggested.

“Less talking, more doing…” Another annoyed remark from Ivan who immediately took Alfred’s arm and walked towards the room on the left.

“I think I’ll go there.” Canada pointed to the right wing of the Palace. ”Good luck, Arthur.”

England smiled at Canada and went upstairs. It was slightly brighter, but there were more rooms, so England’s search was in fact harder than Russia’s or Canada’s. _I need to start somewhere… There seem to be less rooms on the left … I think I’ll go there._ He walked towards the left when suddenly he heard a noise. It definitely wasn’t any of the other Allies. He quickly went looking for the source of the noise and entered a small room. It was almost completely dark in there and for a minute he swore...he heard someone else’s breath. He looked around and spotted something. A small figure was curled up in a ball in the corner of the room. It seemed to be a skinny, probably a bit starved, man with messy blonde hair. His body was covered with bruises and blood, and his face was battered. He seemed to be seriously scared, maybe he thought England was a Nazi? The man seemed to get only more anxious as England was approaching him. But this… it couldn’t be…

"Francis?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the translations from French! They were all made with Google Translate so if you know French and spot any mistakes then please notify me!  
> Que faites-vous?- what are you doing?  
> Nous allons en Angleterre!- we are going to England!  
> Quelle?!- What?!  
> Vous ne pouvez pas le faire!- you can’t do this!  
> Il y a des milliers de personnes qui ont besoin d'aide!- there are thousands of people here in need of help!  
> Regardez…Si nous mourrons, ce sera une question de temps avant de mourir aussi!- Look…if we die it will be a matter of time before you die too!  
> Uff this one's long! I tried to build the tension at the end but failed miserably haha Also, I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as I can, but I have my exams this week so my time for writing is limited. Next chapter will be angsty, I promise, please don't kill me! Enjoy!


End file.
